A common concern for any college student is how to maintain fitness amidst a busy schedule. I have gone through various fitness phases in my time at Grove City College, and because of this I have made use of almost all of Grove City’s athletic facilities. On your tour you probably heard all of the benefits of our facilities, but are they really all that they are cracked up to be?
The Weight Room/Aerobic Room
This is actually two different rooms, but they are connected to one another and as such go together. The weight room is stocked with free weights, weight lifting platforms, cable machines, and various other free weight machines. The school is constantly updating this room with new tools for students to use – for instance, this year there were two new lifting platforms added to the room.
The aerobic room is filled with treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bicycles, recumbent bicycles, rowing machines, and machine weights. This room is also well supplied and has plenty of room to move around.
Both rooms have mats for stretching and floor exercises as well as various accessories to use in your workouts.
These rooms are both great to stay fit – they are easy to move back and forth between, as there is a door that connects them, and they are open late at night. Everyone is kind in these rooms – I have worked out with people who I had only met in passing before and people who come separately are always willing to spot one another in the weight room. As a woman, I was concerned to enter the weight room at first because it has a reputation as the male gym and the aerobic room has a reputation as the female gym – the testosterzone and the estro-gym. These reputations are absolutely false. I have never felt overwhelmingly outnumbered in the weight room and there are always several males in the aerobic room – I honestly do not know where those reputations came from, because they are not at all true.
The one con to these rooms is that their hours are limited compared to several of the other facilities on campus. They are open early in the morning for various lengths of time depending on the day, and again from 3 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. The late mornings and early afternoons are reserved for class use and faculty use. Typically I am in classes while these rooms are closed, however, so it is not usually an issue.
The Indoor Running Track
This is a gem that I did not discover until the second semester of my junior year (I think I was a bit late on the uptake, though). We have an indoor running track that is above the back half of our IM room (Intramural room, basically a big open gym for basketball, soccer, and other recreational sports). The track is smaller than a typical outdoor track, so each lane is a slightly different distance than the other lanes. Twelve laps around the outside lane is equivalent to one mile, however. The track is open all day.
This is one of my favorite places on campus – it tends to be slightly colder than the rest of the building and is a great place to walk or run. I particularly enjoy going on walks with friends on this track in the winter, when it is too cold to walk outside for recreation.
The only con that I have found with the track is that due to its short size there can be a lot of pressure on your joints if you run many laps in a row in the same direction – I definitely recommend switching directions every couple of laps if you plan on running long distances there.
The Outdoor Track and Turf Field
We have an outdoor track and turf field in our stadium on lower campus. These are great facilities during nicer weather. Students will often use the field to play frisbee or other recreational sports, and the track is a great quality, quarter mile track.
Both of these facilities have been redone in the last two years. They are open from dawn until 11 p.m. in the non-winter months.
Recreation Pool
Our recreation pool is actually the old competition pool, and is a great option for anyone who enjoys swimming. The lane lines are often in the pool, but even when they’re not people are very respectful of one another’s space. Kickboards are also available for student use in the recreation pool area. There are two life guards on duty whenever the pool is open.
This is the most limited of our athletic facilities, but it is open for several hours each day.
Dance Studio and Multi-Purpose Room
These are open rooms on the second floor of the Physical Learning Center (the PLC). They can be reserved for student use, but are often available for use on a walk in basis. They are also used for classes. These are great spaces to exercise in groups and/or to do workout videos.
IM Room
The IM Room is one of the athletic facilities that I have not used much at all, but are a great resource. My brother is a sophomore on campus and often goes to the IM Room to play pickup basketball with his friends. This room has long hours and has basketballs that students can borrow. It is also used for sports practices and IM sports.
As you can see, the athletic facilities at Grove City College are extensive and very easy to use. The surrounding area also has great places to run, and it is easy to do exercise videos on one’s own dorm room. Happy exercising!
